France to block development of Facebook’s Libra, says minister

Quick Take

Facebook’s planned stablecoin Libra faces a new obstacle from the French government

The country’s Minister of the Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, said in new comments that Libra threatens the “monetary sovereignty” of governments

France’s Minister of the Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, claimed that the country will halt the development of Facebook’s planned Libra stablecoin in Europe because it threatens the “monetary sovereignty” of governments.

“I want to be absolutely clear: in these conditions, we cannot authorize the development of Libra on European soil,” said Le Maire, as reported by AFP on Thursday.

Le Maire made the comments at the opening of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Global Blockchain Policy Forum 2019 in Paris, France.

While France likely cannot completely block the development of Libra, as the Libra Association is headquartered in Switzerland, it could block apps supporting Libra. The French government could also prevent merchants from accepting the proposed stablecoin in France, thereby making it impractical to use.

The news is yet another setback that Facebook has suffered since announcing the Libra project only three months ago, in mid-June. Regulators and politicians from around the world have stepped in to express their concerns and objections.

Just yesterday, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) said the project would fall under financial market infrastructure regulation, as well as is subject to additional regulatory requirements. The Libra Association is looking to get a payment system license from FINMA to “empower billions of people.”

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